The train from Geneva to Paris is old but fast, and fills up quickly with loudly chattering school children on field trip or holiday — several groups of them, each shepherded by a harried-looking schoolteacher no doubt terrified at the … Continue reading →

When it finally comes time to leave Napoli, it’s by train at seven thirty in the morning. By this time I’m so nocturnal that it’s easier to just stay up until then, and around six in the morning I say … Continue reading →

The train from Rome Termini speeds south under blue skies. As we leave the city, a two-thousand-year-old aqueduct parallels the track for a kilometer or two, towering over freshly plowed fields before diverging and receding into the distance. Whatever else … Continue reading →

All good things must end, and on a Tuesday toward the end of February I pack my bags, say goodbye to my friends in Barcelona, and head for the ferry port. I came into the city by ship, and I … Continue reading →

With routine, with structure, with hours of walking every day, comes thinking. I sit and drink coffee and read, or go to a cafe and work. I don’t visit museums or churches. I don’t even make it down to Barcelona’s … Continue reading →

My last day in Morocco is spent first on the train, headed north to Tangiers, and then making my way further up the coast to the industrial port at Tangier Med. Then the slow monotony of customs, brought to a … Continue reading →

It’s almost dark by the time my train pulls out of the Tangiers station and heads south into the interior of Morocco. Tangiers rises sharply as we approach its edge, house-lights in terraces along steep hills, and then we’re in … Continue reading →

I leave Granada on a sunny afternoon, bound for Algeciras, on the southern tip of Spain. I change buses in Malaga, and end up sitting next to a pair of travelers, Hamish and Lilu, from Canada and Russia, respectively. Hamish … Continue reading →